Migrant workers are enduring labour conditions akin to slavery in Qatar, and
dozens have died as a result, raising concerns about the country's push to
be ready for the 2022 World Cup.

An investigation by the Guardian found that labourers from Nepal were dying at a rate of almost one a day over the summer months in Qatar, where temperatures can reach 122F. Most of the men died from sudden heart attacks, heart failure or workplace accidents.

The men faced such severe exploitation that their treatment - which included having their pay withheld, forced labour and denial of access to drinking water - amounted to slavery, the investigation found. Some workers were sleeping 12 to a room, and being housed in hostels that were so dirty that they became sick. Others reported working 12 hour days and then having to beg for food.

According to documents obtained by the Guardian from the Nepalese embassy in Doha, at least 44 workers died between June 4 and Aug 8. About 30 Nepalese workers sought refuge at their embassy to escape the harsh working conditions.

"We'd like to leave, but the company won't let us," one Nepalese migrant working on the Lusail City development, a $45bn (£28bn) new city being which will be home a huge World Cup stadium, told the Guardian. "We're helpless. I regret coming here, but what to do? We were compelled to come just to make a living, but we've had no luck."

The body that is organising the World Cup, the Qatar 2002 Supreme Committee, told the Guardian that work had not started on projects directly related to the World Cup but it was "deeply concerned with the allegations... and considers this issue to be of the utmost seriousness". It added: "We have been informed that the relevant government authorities are conducting an investigation into the allegations."

The Nepalese workers are effectively trapped in their "jobs" because they owe huge debts to recruitment companies that secured the employment from Nepal. They also accused their employers of withholding their passports so they cannot leave the country. The result is a type of indentured labour, with some of the world's poorest people being employed by one of its richest nations.